PRACTICAL BEEKEEPING 



15 



ing on through the ejaculator duct, the seminal fluid is stored away 

 in the spermatophore, a sack or pouch-like enlargement, the con- 

 tents of which, at the time of copulation with the female, is trans- 

 fered to the female, thereafter being essential to her reproductive 

 function. 



In the female the ova are developed in the two ovaries and 



Fig. 5 Ovaries of Queen, etc. 



A, Abdomen of queen, under side (magnified eight times) P, petiole; O, 

 O, ovaries; hs, position filled by honey sac; ds, position through which di- 

 gestive system passes; od, oviduct; co. d, common oviduct; E, egg-passing 

 oviduct; s, spermatheca; i, intestine; pb, poison bag; p. g., poison gland; St., 

 sting; p, palpi. B, rudimentary ovaries of ordinary worker sp, rudimentary 

 spermatheea. C, partially developed ovaries of fertile worker sp, rudimen- 

 tary spermatheca. (From Cheshire by courtesy of L. Upcott Gill, London.) 



pass down the fallopian tubes, or oviducts, to the vagina. Here 

 the ova are fertilized from the spermatheca, where the spermatozoa 

 from the male or drone bee have been deposited. At this time the 

 egg is well formed and has a shell, and the sperm enters through a 



